Seven Ways To Get More Flexibility At Work Without A Special Arrangement

A new coalition of companies, non-profits and business leaders has formed, 1 Million for Work Flexibility, to emphasize the need of employees for work flexibility and to build the business case for employers to offer it. I’m excited this is coming to the forefront on the traditional employment side. I’ve posted before on how to negotiate for a flexible work arrangement. However, you might not need or want an official flexible work arrangement. You just want more flexibility from time to time. Here are seven ways to get more flexibility at work without a special arrangement.

(Photo by Taro Karibe/Getty Images)

1. Use the privacy areas.

While the rise of open workspaces has increased the pressure to never take a break or even leave your desk, one benefit of this design is the installation of privacy rooms or other quiet areas. Set a reminder on your calendar daily to use these privacy areas! Even if it’s just for 15-20 minutes, give yourself some quiet, a change in scenery, and a chance to get focused work done or take a proper break. When I consulted at a financial firm with a loud, open workspace, I used the privacy rooms every day for at least 15 minutes to do some meditation.

In addition to people dropping by the workspace unannounced, many workers share calendars and get pulled into meeting after meeting. When much of your time is planned by others, it makes it hard to get your individual work done, much less build in flexibility. So you have to “plan” your unplanned time – schedule an appointment on your calendar for 30 minutes, one hour or ideally more every day for meetings with yourself. These are buffer time slots, and you have the flexibility to use these for strategic planning, responding to urgent matters, or working on longer-term projects that otherwise would fall off the radar.

3. Pretend you’re on vacation.

Tapping into vacation mode is a mind trick but can improve your day-to-day and may become your new approach to work. Prior to leaving on vacation, many people manage to get more done – the office is in order, project statuses are updated with everyone involved, a burst of productivity usually occurs to tie up loose ends before the vacation deadline. On vacation, if something comes up, you’ll handle it as quickly as possible (aiming for good enough) so you can get back to your vacation. This efficiency to your work is not a bad operating mode for every day! Think about how you can regularly stay organized, as if you need to leave your work behind, and how you can embrace more of a good-enough expediency.

4. Manage up.

A large part of flexibility will come from your boss and other stakeholders with demands on your time. If your boss is more of a micromanager, don’t just expend your energy resisting it. Figure out how to work with what s/he demands – provide frequent updates, keep information and statuses of current projects handy. Don’t assume how your boss likes to communicate – ask what medium (email, phone, IM, drop by) and what frequency. Even if you’ve worked together for a while, it’s helpful to re-confirm how you should work together. Market and company conditions change. Your boss’ scope of responsibility and priorities changes. Your work product and responsibilities change. Make sure you’re optimizing your relationship with your boss and stakeholders for today’s conditions so you have their support.

5. Say no to extra work.

As things change over time, you may find that your role no longer looks anything like it did when you started, and you now have many more responsibilities but the same resources (and title and pay). Just as you want to re-confirm the best way to manage up, you want to reassess the best way to manage all of your individual responsibilities. What should your priorities be now? Are there tasks you used to do routinely that can now be eliminated or delegated to someone else? You can say no to extra work and still be a team player.

6. Don’t be the only one who can do something

I once coached a harried media professional who felt like she had double the work of her colleagues but couldn’t extricate herself from her responsibilities because she was the only one in the group would could do certain things. Don’t ever be the “only one” who can do anything. Whether it’s software or a compliance process or a subject matter area, you need to train a back-up for you. The quality of your work should be a unique differentiator but the actual task can be shared. Being the “only one” won’t make you irreplaceable (if a company wants to get rid of you, they will just eat the retraining costs at that point) but it will make you immoveable and too busy for better opportunities should they come along.

7. Come in early or stay late

I’m not suggesting that you work longer hours just because. That’s potential burnout not flexibility. But true flexibility means that you rework your schedule to fit you. This could mean coming in very early and/ or staying late, and using hours in the traditional work day for personal time (e.g., gym workout, networking lunch). This could mean coming in early (or staying later than most) and using the quiet, empty office for some personal tasks you wouldn’t get done at home. When I worked in corporate, I found it very helpful to stay in the office to get errands done because I was still in work mode and much more productive than when I got home.

One of the arguments I hear for using these flexibility hacks is that it won’t work given the pace or expectations of the office culture. There’s no question that some offices are more laid-back than others. But I have worked in finance, consulting, media, technology, and even non-profit, and in all industries and all cultures (even hard-driving ones), I’ve seen some people who are just better than others at maintaining their own work rhythms and boundaries, regardless of the general office culture. Strong boundaries enable flexibility. Don’t assume you can’t flex your schedule and need an official approval from HR. Try it out. Work the way you want. Build flexibility into your everyday.

I am a career change expert and the co-founder of SixFigureStart and Costa Rica FIRE. I specialize in helping executives, entrepreneurs, and creatives make a great living doing work they love. I have changed careers multiple times myself -- classical pianist, banker, consult...